Spaceflight Now



The Mission




Orbiter: Atlantis
Mission: STS-115
Launch: Sept. 9, 2006
Time: 11:15 a.m. EDT (1515 GMT)
Site: Pad 39B, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
Landing: Sept. 21 @ 6:21 a.m. EDT (1021 GMT)
Site: Shuttle Landing Facility, KSC
Earlier Mission Coverage

Mission Status Center

Shuttle Launch Schedule

Master Flight Plan

NASA TV Schedule

Launch Countdown

STS-115 Quick-Look

Launch Windows Chart

Ascent Data Packet

Rendezvous Timeline

Key Personnel List

Shuttle Flight History

Launch/Landing Chart

STS-121 Archive

STS-114 Archive



The Crew




Veteran shuttle commander Brent Jett leads a six-person crew launching aboard Atlantis for the STS-115 mission.

Crew Quick-Look

CDR: Brent Jett

PLT: Chris Ferguson

MS 1: Joe. Tanner

MS 2: Dan Burbank

MS 3: Heide Piper

MS 4: Steve MacLean

Manned Spaceflights

Current Demographics

Projected Demographics

Spacewalk Statistics



Spaceflight Now +



Premium video content for our Spaceflight Now Plus subscribers.

Atlantis on the pad
Space shuttle Atlantis is delivered to Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39B on August 2 to begin final preparations for blastoff on the STS-115 mission to resume construction of the International Space Station.

 PLAY

Atlantis rollout begins
Just after 1 a.m. local time August 2, the crawler-transporter began the slow move out of the Vehicle Assembly Building carrying space shuttle Atlantis toward the launch pad.

 PLAY

Atlantis on the move
Space shuttle Atlantis is transported to the cavernous Vehicle Assembly Building where the ship will be mated to the external fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters for a late-August liftoff.

 PLAY | TIME-LAPSE

Become a subscriber
More video



Monday launch no longer appears possible
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: August 27, 2006

NASA managers debating launch options for the shuttle Atlantis have a new issue to contend with: Hurricane Ernesto, now predicted to strike the west coast of Florida late this week just north of Tampa.


Credit: NASA-KSC
 
Engineers at the Kennedy Space Center have been told Atlantis' launching is off until at least Tuesday, but NASA has not yet made any official announcement. A launch Monday or Tuesday assumes time-consuming tests of ordnance and control circuitry in the shuttle's solid rocket boosters and self destruct system in the wake of a lightning strike Friday are not required (see our overnight story for details).

Depending on Ernesto's eventual course, the timing of its passage and what needs to be done to recover from the lightning strike, NASA managers could be forced to consider hauling Atlantis back to the protection of the Vehicle Assembly Building, a move that would use up most of the shuttle's September launch window.

NASA wants to launch Atlantis in daylight for photo documentation of the shuttle's external tank and heat shield. If the ship isn't off the ground by Sept. 13, NASA will be faced with the prospect of just three lighted launch days between then and the end of the year: two in late October and one in December.

Complicating the picture, launch tries between Sept. 7 and 13 would require agreement by the Russians to delay launch of a Soyuz capsule carrying the space station's next crew. A shuttle launch past Sept. 7 would require a dead-of-night landing for the returning station crew and the Russians want to avoid that because this will be the recovery team's first landing operation since a recent switch to civilian management.

NASA's Mission Management Team plans to meet at 1 p.m. and a news conference is expected later in the day. Updates will be posted here as new information becomes availabe.

Spaceflight Now Plus
Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO: OFFICIALS EXPLAIN INITIAL SCRUB PLAY
VIDEO: SEE THE LIGHTNING STRIKE AT PAD B PLAY
VIDEO: ANOTHER VIEW OF LIGHTNING STRIKE PLAY

VIDEO: PRE-LAUNCH NEWS CONFERENCE PLAY
VIDEO: FRIDAY'S COUNTDOWN STATUS DIAL-UP | BROADBAND
VIDEO: CREW ARRIVES FOR LAUNCH PLAY
VIDEO: THURSDAY'S COUNTDOWN STATUS DIAL-UP | BROADBAND

VIDEO: LAUNCH DATE ANNOUNCEMENT NEWS CONFERENCE PLAY
VIDEO: COMPLETE PREVIEW OF ATLANTIS MISSION PLAY
VIDEO: DETAILS OF THE THREE SPACEWALKS PLAY
VIDEO: MEET THE SIX ASTRONAUTS PLAY

VIDEO: CREW LAUNCH PAD PRESS CHAT DIAL-UP | BROADBAND
VIDEO: ATLANTIS ARRIVES AT LAUNCH PAD 39B PLAY
VIDEO: ROLLOUT FROM VEHICLE ASSEMBLY BUILDING BEGINS PLAY
VIDEO: TRUSS IN PAD'S PAYLOAD ROOM PLAY
VIDEO: PAYLOAD HOISTED INTO THE PAD PLAY
VIDEO: STATION TRUSS PAYLOAD DELIVERED TO PAD PLAY
MORE: STS-115 VIDEO COVERAGE
SUBSCRIBE NOW

STS-115 patch
The official crew patch for the STS-115 mission of space shuttle Atlantis to resume orbital construction of the International Space Station.
 Choose your store:
U.S. - U.K. - E.U. - Worldwide



Telescopes.com
Largest selection and the best prices anywhere in the world. Free shipping on select items. Telescopes.com is the largest dealer of both Meade and Celestron Telescopes. Visit Telescopes.com or call toll free 1-800-303-5873.
Current Shuttle Mission Patch
The official embroidered patch for shuttle Atlantis' flight to deliver critical spare equipment to the space station.
 U.S. STORE
 WORLDWIDE STORE

Ares 1-X Patch
The official embroidered patch for the Ares 1-X rocket test flight, is available for purchase.
 U.S. STORE
 WORLDWIDE STORE

Apollo Collage
This beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.
 U.S. STORE
 WORLDWIDE STORE



Project Orion
The Orion crew exploration vehicle is NASA's first new human spacecraft developed since the space shuttle a quarter-century earlier. The capsule is one of the key elements of returning astronauts to the Moon.
 U.S. STORE


Fallen Heroes Patch Collection
The official patches from Apollo 1, the shuttle Challenger and Columbia crews are available in the store.
 U.S. STORE
 WORLDWIDE STORE

Ares 1-X Patch
The official embroidered patch for the Ares 1-X rocket test flight, is available for purchase.
 U.S. STORE
 WORLDWIDE STORE

Apollo Collage
This beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.
 U.S. STORE

Expedition 21
The official embroidered patch for the International Space Station Expedition 21 crew is now available from our stores.
 U.S. STORE
 WORLDWIDE STORE

Hubble Patch
The official embroidered patch for mission STS-125, the space shuttle's last planned service call to the Hubble Space Telescope, is available for purchase.
 U.S. STORE
 WORLDWIDE STORE
MISSION INDEX

INDEX | PLUS | NEWS ARCHIVE | LAUNCH SCHEDULE
ASTRONOMY NOW | STORE

ADVERTISE

© 2009 Spaceflight Now Inc.